The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

Most people who write to celebrities get an autographed 8 x 10. James Grissom got a vocation.

In 1982, as a college student, Grissom sent a letter soliciting advice on a writing career to fellow Louisianan Thomas Lanier “Tennessee” Williams III. The famous playwright responded by phone with an entreaty of his own.

“ ‘Perhaps you can be of some help to me.’ These were the first words Tennessee Williams spoke to me in that initial phone call to ...

For readers who love creative nonfiction (or literary journalism or whatever designation suits you), if you haven’t read any work by Michael Paterniti, take note. The longtime GQ and New York Times Magazine contributor and author returns today with a collection of essays, Love and Other Ways of Dying, which Kirkus called, in a starred review, “real-world storytelling of the highest order.”

It’s an apt description for a writer who explores the human spirit with humor, empathy, and a ...

A few years ago, Roger White made an unusual decision for a painter. He took a break from contributing to the contemporary art world to explore the way it works. “Painting is a lot of hours in a room by yourself doing one thing; writing was a way to grapple with the art of my colleagues,” he says. In order to have an outlet to do the kind of in-depth writing about contemporary art to which he aspired, he ...

No matter how old we are, no matter how many children we may have, a part of us always wants to feel like somebody’s child.

Mimi Baird’s powerful memoir (really a memoir within a memoir) He Wanted the Moon speaks to this longing to be known as a daughter, to embrace the legacy of one’s parents and to feel knitted into the fabric of family. Baird’s opening sentence sets the table: “It was the spring of 1994 when I returned ...

A compliment often given to biographers is that they’ve managed to resurrect their subjects in their works. This seems no small feat, but perhaps an even bigger challenge for a biographer is to bring the book itself to life. As Rachel Holmes proves with her newest work, Eleanor Marx: A Life, it’s hard but not impossible. Reading the lengthy biography of Eleanor Marx, the socialist and feminist activist, literary translator, and daughter of Karl Marx, I was surprised by how ...

This year has ushered in a new framing of black history with attention on and discussion of Ava DuVernay's critically acclaimed film, Selma. Its timely emergence on the heels of nationwide protests elevating the relationship between black communities and law enforcement also calls to mind a time when another black woman, Ethel Payne, told significant, untold stories from the civil rights era as she was coming into her own as a pioneering black woman journalist.

When a publicist stresses the uniqueness of the book she or he is handling, I feel lucky that the form of communication is almost always email and not by phone. If it’s by phone, I usually feel tempted to blurt out, “But three weeks ago there was another novel set in Prague in the 19th century by a talented debut writer,” and saying that can feel uncomfortable all around. You’ve got to feel a little sympathy for a ...

The doldrums of winter are officially here. I have always thought—and there are likely many who share this sentiment—that February is the bleakest month, a cold, wet, dreary slog toward the promising sunshine and flowery buds of spring. Granted, from my home down South, I may not have much to complain about, but I did my time in New York City, so I can empathize with all my colleagues in the Northeast, especially after this most recent blizzard.

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